It's For Her Sake
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: Karma takes his little sister to the park, and in doing so finds himself thinking about what, exactly, he is doing in Class 3E, the assassination classroom. Oneshot based on animeandmangafangirl's OC. Some fluffy moments. Rated T to be safe.


**Some of you may be following/ have read the one-shot collection by animeandmangafangirl called 'Karma has a what?!' which is basically a collection of the anime events with the addition of animeandmangafangirl's OC Kiyoko Akabane, sister of Karma. I was inspired to write a one-shot about Kiyoko while reading some of the chapters in that collection, and since I was given permission to use her character, I did so. So all credit for the existence of Kiyoko goes to animeandmangafangirl. **

**BUT I should probably point out that this one-shot is, in a sense, an AU of the 'Karma has a what?!' collection in that it is a bit more serious/reflective, and certain events that happened in the original collection are presumed to have not happened here, and other various little details have been changed. There are also some Karma/Manami moments in the story, but those are minor and really not the point of the one-shot. In any case, I hope you enjoy this one-shot. **

"Karma, are you awake?"

"No." Karma rolled over and pulled the quilt over his head. It was a Saturday, and he wanted to sleep for a bit longer before doing anything.

His mother just sighed and came into the room.

"I need you to look after Kiyoko for the day." She said as she pulled his curtains. "I have to get into work soon."

At that, Karma sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Working late." He stated, simply. It was usually how these things went. Not that he minded. Like most little kids, Kiyoko had her annoying moments, but he truly adored his little sister. And he felt that the gap that had been created by their age differences had been lessened somewhat by their shared experiences in Class 3-E. So all things considered, he didn't mind having to look after her.

"Yes. I might not even make it back tonight…but I did leave dinner in the fridge."

"It's okay. " Karma said. "We can go to the park today."

"That's a good idea. Kiyoko will like that." Karma's mother smiled briefly at him, then left him in peace while she went to wake Kiyoko up.

**…**

"Onii-Chan, are you going to play with me in the park?"

"Sure I will, just not all the time though. I'd like time to read or something, because I'm old, you know."

"_Nooo_, you're not old, Onii-Chan!" Kiyoko giggled as she skipped just ahead of Karma, turning back constantly so she could pepper him with questions as they walked to the park.

"Onii-Chan, are we going to stay in the park for the WHOLE DAY?"

"Most of the day. But we need to be back in time for you to go to bed."

"So are we having a picnic in the park? On the grass? With teddy bears?"

"I guess we can have a picnic, if you want. But you didn't bring any teddies."

"Yes I did!" Kiyoko stopped, pulled off her bunny rabbit backpack, and unzipped it. She pulled out two teddy bears, or rather, two stuffed bunnies. Karma decided not to point out that detail to her, though.  
One was orange , and the other was light blue. Karma recognised the blue one as the one he had bought her that first time Kiyoko had come visiting his class. The orange bunny matched it, but was clearly older. Perhaps he had also got that one for her. He did tend to lose track of the things he had bought her-there were so many.

"This one's Nagisa-Nii-Chan!" she announced, holding up the blue bunny. Karma chuckled. The shade of blue did look a bit like his friend's hair and eyes, now he thought about it. He briefly wondered what Nagisa would make of being a stuffed rabbit's namesake. It was a funny thought.

"So, who's the orange one?" he asked, playing along with Kiyoko's theme.

"Hmmm….it might be Hinano-Onee-Chan, or Hayami-Onee-Chan….but I don't know."

"I think Kurahashi-san fits the bill better." When Kiyoko stared at him blankly, he amended his statement. "The bunny looks more like Kurahashi-san."

"Oh, okay!" Kiyoko put the bunnies back, then slipped her bag back on and they continued walking and chatting. When they got to the park, Kiyoko zoned in on the playground straight away, and Karma spent some time pushing her on the swings, before she rushed over to the slides and climbing frames, allowing Karma to sit on a bench and simply keep an eye on her.

He passed the time by reading a book he had brought along with him, as well as playing the occasional game on his phone. From time to time, his mind wandered to Koro-sensei and the assassination, but he didn't pay those thoughts any heed, as it was Saturday. And every so often, he looked up to make sure Kiyoko was fine.

"ONII-CHAN!" Kiyoko's yelling made Karma drop his book.

"Kiyoko?" he looked up and noticed that she had climbed all the way to the top of the jungle gym, and was waving madly at him.

_Recklessness, an Akabane trait, _he thought wryly, even as he reacted.

"Hey, that's dangerous!" he ran over and looked up at his little sister. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Onii-Chan!" Kiyoko said cheerfully. "But I think I can see Kayayan!"

It took Karma a moment for him to realise that she was referring to Kayano, because he had thought Kiyoko simply referred to her as 'Kayano-Onee-Chan'. Ignoring that for now, he scaled the jungle gym with ease and looked over to where Kiyoko was pointing. In the large grassy areas of the park, there were a few groups of people having picnics. It was hard to distinguish any distinctive features from the distance he was currently at, but he felt fairly confident in figuring out gender. And so he could see why Kiyoko thought she had seen Kayano, because the group she had seen seemed to consist of three girls, and the green hair of one of the girls stood out next to the darker hues of the other two girls' hair.

"Why don't we go and see if it is Kayano-san?" Karma suggested on impulse.

"Yeah!" Kiyoko squealed. "Let's go, let's go!"

Karma laughed, and helped Kiyoko down, and after gathering up their things, they walked out of the playground area and across the grass towards the group. Sure enough, Kiyoko had been right. Kayano was there, along with Kanzaki and Manami. They had spread out a large blanket on the grass, and were sitting and playing a card game (Karma soon figured out it was UNO). He decided to make their presence known when Manami looked up, as if sensing them.

"Karma-kun!" she exclaimed, smiling. "And Kiyoko-Chan, too!"

Karma smiled back. Kiyoko rushed towards Kayano and barrelled into her, taking up the attention of Kanzaki as well.

"Hello, Okuda-san." He said pleasantly. He was _always_ pleased to see her.

"Were you playing with Kiyoko-Chan in the playground today?" she asked.

"Yeah, but she spotted Kayano-san, so we decided to come over. Hopefully you don't mind the intrusion."

"It isn't an intrusion. It's a nice surprise, actually." Manami's smile warmed him. She moved her bag to a side so that he could sit down next to her, and then he looked over to make sure that Kiyoko wasn't causing too much trouble.

"Do you like my hair, Onii-Chan?" Kiyoko asked, chirpily. "Kayayan did it for me!"

_When did that happen?! _Karma stared, goggle eyed. Even having a little sister gave him no insight into how girls' hairstyles worked.

"I did! Now we match!" Kayano agreed cheerfully. And so they did, but because Kiyoko's hair was a bit wavy, the effect was more like bear ears rather than Kayano's cat ears. Even so, it was adorable enough that Karma laughed in appreciation. Kanzaki took out her phone to take a photograph of Kayano and Kiyoko.

"I'll send it to you later." Kanzaki told Karma, showing him the photograph on her phone. He nodded. It wasn't as if he'd ever be able to replicate the style, so having a picture would be nice for Kiyoko.

"And then next time I come to your classroom show it to Pretty Lady, okay, Onii-Chan?" Kiyoko said, grinning. Karma rolled his eyes. He didn't understand why his sister was so taken with Bitch-sensei.

"Show it to her yourself, if you must." It was the wrong thing to say, because Kiyoko gave an impressive pout. She stuck her tongue out, and Karma responded in kind. Childish, but he didn't care.

"Ah, ah, why don't we start another round of UNO, since you're both here? It'll be more fun with two more players." Kayano said hurriedly, reshuffling the cards and handing them out.

"Yay, UNO!" Kiyoko cheered up instantly and the potential disaster was averted. As soon as they all had the right amount of cards, the game began, with Karma's sights set on winning.

It turned out that, smart as she was, the rules of UNO were a bit beyond a five-year-old, so she spent the rounds 'helping' one of the others, resulting in much amusement and laughter. After she had 'helped' everyone twice, they decided to have lunch, sharing out their snacks and bento boxes for one big 'picnic' much to Kiyoko's delight. She even pulled out her two toy bunnies to join their picnic.

"Hey, Onii-Chan, Kayayan, do you think that after lunch we should go find the Octopus teacher?" Kiyoko asked unexpectedly as she ripped open a biscuit wrapper. The others all stared.

"Why?" Kayano asked through a mouthful of sandwich. She swallowed and tilted her head as if curious about Kiyoko's answer. Truthfully, Karma was confused too. Why was she thinking about Koro-sensei, anyway? They hadn't been talking about him at all. Infact, the closest they'd come to talking about school was complaining about their homework-but they had only talked about the questions, not the person who had set them. So for Kiyoko to burst out with that was just strange. And possibly worrying.

"_Because_….then you can complete your mission!" Kiyoko looked at Kayano as if she was utterly dense. The others simply exchanged glances, wondering how to answer Kiyoko. Eventually, Kanzaki spoke up.

"We're not allowed to…target him on weekends." She explained, skilfully avoiding usage of the word 'kill'. Kiyoko looked very annoyed at her answer.

"Why? That's really silly!" she hugged the Nagisa rabbit to her. Again, the four middle schoolers exchanged glances. Kiyoko's pout deepened.

"We're not at school now, are we? So how would that even be possible?" Karma asked lightly.

"We can GO THERE!" Kiyoko declared. "By _walking_!"

_This is bad…._

"We're not allowed to anyway. Karasuma-sensei said so." Manami said, backing Karma up. The reasoning didn't seem to work, and Kiyoko's face creased as she burst into tears. The Nagisa bunny fell from her arms, but she didn't seem to notice as she wailed.

"Hey, Kiyoko…." Karma wasn't sure what to do. Essentially, Kiyoko was getting upset about not being able to kill Koro-sensei. Except she didn't have any awareness of the class's separate role of 'assassins'. She didn't _need_ to, she was only a kid, after all. He was suddenly glad that Karasuma had forbidden her to come on the Kyoto trip, and that he had made sure Kiyoko was at home when Takaoka had turned up. Their shared love of trickery was one thing, but this…

"When I'm a big girl, I'm going to come to your class proper and help you all proper!" Kiyoko informed them in-between hiccupping sobs. All four of them tried to comfort her and divert her attention, but not even the promise of ice-cream helped. Karma had never felt so helpless. This was his _little sister_. He was meant to protect her, and he thought he'd been successful in doing that, up until now.

_Damn this assassination classroom. Dammit._

Eventually, Kiyoko exhausted herself with crying and fell asleep in Kanzaki's lap. Kanzaki gently brushed away the hair from Kiyoko's forehead, wiped her face with a tissue and then adjusted her position slightly so that they would both be more comfortable.

"This doesn't usually happen. I'm sorry about that." Karma said, reaching over and tucking both bunnies into Kiyoko's arms, looking concernedly at her troubled, sleeping face.

"No, it's okay…" Kanzaki seemed perfectly happy with the set-up, although she had a thoughtful look about her.

"Poor Kiyoko-Chan." She mused, stroking the child's hair. "This must be quite stressful on her."

"I should probably make sure she stays home from now on." Karma said, grimly.

"But we like having her there! Everyone does!" Kayano said.

"Even Terasaka-kun?" Karma said sarcastically. Kayano reddened, and Karma felt bad. But he didn't apologise. The unexpected outburst had him on edge.

"I think it would be a lot crueller to pull her out now, Karma-kun." Kanzaki said softly. "We're a part of her life now."

Karma had to agree with that. Kiyoko had formed so many strong bonds with his classmates and friends But he didn't like it. Not at all.

"But she has no idea! About what any of this is, what it means." _That's how it should have been. She shouldn't have come at all. I like having her there, but I shouldn't._

"She probably perceives more than you think. After all, the two of you are alike, and not just in looks." Kanzaki said. It was another point Karma acknowledged. His sister was a smart little cookie, and an excellent prankster too. But she was also a bunny-obsessed little girl who adored the world and life. What would she do if she knew that the class held responsibility for the world's fate?

"Hmmmm, exactly!" Kayano proclaimed. "You're so motherly, Kanzaki-san." she added.

Kanzaki blushed. Karma thought the comment was just weird. Not to mention a bit irrelevant.

"Well, not really…"

"_Do_ you want to be a mother someday, Kanzaki-san?" Manami asked, unexpectedly. All eyes (apart from Kiyoko's) went straight to her and she reddened. Karma wondered where she was going with that.

"I suppose I do, perhaps, someday…Doesn't everyone have something they want to do in the future?"

"Well, yeah, but is there any point in making plans if we can't kill Koro-sensei? If we don't, then next March everything wi-"as he said that, Karma came to a realisation. If they didn't do what they had to do, then everything would end. Including his little sister. His sweet, unexpected little sister who would be starting school in a year and a half's time. So this assassination wasn't just about becoming assassins, or helping the government, or even being heroes. It was about protecting their futures, and all other potential futures. Because after all, even the so called Class-E no hopers had things to fight for.

"Of course we all have futures we want to aim for. And I'm sure Kiyoko-Chan does, too." Kayano said.

"Exactly." Manami said. "Kiyoko-Chan's presence kind of reminds us all, doesn't it? Of all the futures that are at stake. And also, I think it reminds us that _we're_ people, too. "

_Ah, how apt, Okuda-san. And you say you're not good with words. _

"It's quite a burden for a five-year-old though." Kanzaki sighed.

"This is why Karasuma-sensei doesn't let her get involved with all of it." Manami and Karma said, almost in unison. They laughed as soon as they realised the fact, with Manami blushing. Karma grinned at her, and gave her a quick thumbs-up before turning serious again.

"It's our burden." Karma said, elaborating. "Not hers. "

"She's such a help though! She makes the whole class brighter when she visits. I for one _adore_ her visits! But yeah, the assassination isn't to do with her." Kayano said.

"I don't really want to stop her coming either. Apart from this, she's really happy, and has become more confident, so it must be good for her. But I don't want her growing up too fast. It's kind of already happened to us, but we're a lot older. It's different for us. There is _no _way I'm allowing an adult task become her problem. " As Karma summed up what they had all been musing on, he felt a little more cheered.

"Which is exactly why I can't wait to kill Koro-sensei with my _own_ hands." He concluded, smirking evilly.

Kanzaki and Kayano pulled a face at Karma's mock-dark expression, while Manami just smiled. Kiyoko continued to sleep, oblivious to the teenagers who were declaring to shield her from their darkness.

_Just as she should be. _

"Speaking of killing, you remember Kiyoko's idea about putting the bullets into the sweets? I've nearly cracked it. But don't tell her that now. Perhaps it's best to keep quiet about the 'mission' for now. Us 'big kids' should just deal with it secretly later, right? " Manami added.

"Sounds about right, Okuda-san." Karma agreed.

"Yeah, no more assassination talks!" Kayano said, dramatically, with gestures to match. They all laughed, and talked about other things, feeling lighter. But from time to time, they all looked over at the little girl who had a whole future ahead of her. Making sure that they _remembered _that fact.

"Onii-Chan…." Kiyoko woke up as Kayano finished the punchline to yet another joke. "Can I have ice-cream?" she rubbed her eyes as she sat up in Kanzaki's lap. Kanzaki gave the girl a quick hug, then allowed her to get up and stumble over to Karma.

"Ah, go on then. Are you sure you're not too sleepy?" Karma teased. Kiyoko pouted again, but this time it resulted in giggles.

"No, silly! I am _never_ too sleepy for ice-cream, ever!"

"Okay. We'll be back soon, guys." Karma said as he grabbed onto his wallet and Kiyoko's hand and walked towards the kiosk. Kiyoko gave no indication of remembering her earlier upset and chattered nineteen to the dozen as they brought ice-creams and walked back.

"Here you go." Karma proclaimed, holding out an ice-cream to Manami. Surprised, she smiled her thanks as she took it. Karma sat down and started on his own as Kiyoko gave ice-creams to Kanzaki and Kayano and then sat down between the two of them to eat her own one.

As they ate, Kiyoko regaled them with stories of all the other ice-creams she had eaten. Karma had been there for most of those instances, so he didn't listen too closely. But he did pay attention to how happy and free Kiyoko sounded. He intended to make sure that she stayed that way, after all.

**…**

After ice-creams, they all went back to the playground area and behaved like little children as they played with Kiyoko. When Kiyoko managed to befriend some other children, their games spiralled into something that Karma could only think of as a sort of joyful chaos. Not his preferred type of chaos, but entertaining enough. Then, when the sun started to set, they all went their separate ways.

"See you again soon!" Kiyoko chirped happily as they reached the end of the road, waving madly until the three girls were out of sight. Then, she turned to Karma and smiled, waving the Hinano bunny in the air. Karma found himself worrying about the fate of the toy.

"I had LOTS of fun today!" Kiyoko proclaimed as they started the walk home. "I'm happy!"

"Ah, that's good. So did I."

"Yay!"

When they got home, they both changed into their night clothes and had the dinner that their mother had left for them, before brushing their teeth. Kiyoko caused a mess by trying to make soap bubbles, and Karma helped her gladly, the two of them trying to beat each other in making the largest bubbles. Then, when they had finished, he wiped her down and took her to her room to tuck her in.

Kiyoko watched him through half-closed eyes as he arranged all her toys (including the Nagisa bunny and the Hinano bunny) around her.

"Hey, Onii-Chan?" she asked when he had finished.

"Hmmm?"

"I changed my mind."

"About what?" Karma paused to look at Kiyoko, who was fighting to stay awake. Clearly, despite her impromptu nap earlier, the playing had tired her out.

"I don't want to come to your class when I am a big kid like you anymore."

_Thank goodness for that. _"Oh really? Why's that?"

"Kiyoko forgot something stupid." She replied, temporarily reverting to referring to herself in the third person, a sure sign she was getting sleepy.

"What is it?"

"When Kiyoko's big like you, you'll be _even _bigger, so you won't even _be_ there. Neither will Nagisa-nii-Chan, or Kayayan, or Kanzaki-Onee-Chan or Okuda-Onee-Chan or Pretty Lady, or _anybody_. Because they'll all be even bigger people too. So it won't be funny and lots of fun. So Kiyoko don't want to go there when she's a big girl, Kiyoko just wants to visit you in your happy class sometimes, okay? That's okay, right?"

Karma grinned. _What a wonderfully innocent response. I hope that stays the same._

"You're right. And you're always welcome in Class E." _Well, not always, because of what we do, but it's close enough. _"Goodnight, Kiyoko. "

"Night-night, Onii-Chan."

A few moments later, Kiyoko was fast asleep. Karma noted the peaceful expression on her face, then turned the light off and left the room, leaving the door ajar so she'd see the nightlight if she woke up. Then, with a heavy sigh, he went to clean the soapy mess they'd left in the bathroom. He didn't want his mother getting annoyed when she came back the next morning, after all.

**So...I still get mixed up with the Japanese school year-groups systems, but I feel like that depending on when her birthday is, Kiyoko starting school in a year-and-a-half sounds about right. **

**Anyway, please leave feedback! It is always appreciated. **


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